1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to communications networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to communications sessions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Broadband access is available with a variety of technologies including wireless, cable, and DSL. A variety of network services have emerged in conjunction with the growth and advancement of broadband access. These services include video-conferencing, VoIP, video feeds, gaming services, etc. Delivery of these services and the end-user experience to access these services were enhanced by the Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE).
Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) was developed to meet several goals. One goal was to provide the end-user a familiar dial-up style interface. Another goal was to connect multiple hosts at a remote site through the same customer premise equipment (CPE) (“A Method for Transmitting PPP over Ethernet”, RFC 2516, 1999). PPPoE also satisfied the goal of introducing access control and billing functionality, which is inherent to PPP, to broadband access technology (“A Method for Transmitting PPP over Ethernet”, RFC 2516, 1999). Although, multiple hosts could connect to the same CPE with PPPoE, each host can only open one session without additional configuration by the end-user.
An end-user cannot open another PPPoE session to use another service. The end-user must terminate a current PPPoE session and start a next session. An end-user can manually configure their machine for multiple PPPoE sessions, but the task is cumbersome and difficult.